Antarctica (Nov-Dec 2025) - Part 2: Beagle Channel and the Drake Passage
From a pelagic birder's perspective, this journey feels as if it is divided into three legs: the Beagle Channel/inshore South Atlantic, the Drake Passage, and Antarctica. Though there is overlap, each of those three segments has its own vibe and wildlife diversity that is different than the others. Here I am combining both the outgoing and return journeys through the Beagle and the Drake. Antarctica itself deserves its own post. In the weeks leading up to the trip, as I was telling friends and family where we were headed, the one question I received the most was "don't you have to sail through the roughest waters in the world to get there?" Even to the uninitiated, the Drake Passage is famous for its volatility. Depending on the weather, you might be greeted with the feared "Drake Shake." But if you're living right, you'll get the "Drake Lake." We were lucky in that our seas were light to moderate. Not exactly a lake, but the shaking was to...